BY HARRY RING

Freudian slip - As Thanksgiving approached, more than 6,000 New Yorkers were chopped from welfare rolls because of a computer error. Form letters had been sent asking if they wanted to remain on welfare (!). The private company processing the responses logged in "yes" as "no."

He's been around the block - A New York Legal Aid lawyer commented on the welfare mess-up: "We are obviously very anxious. We have found them to be much more efficient in closing cases than in opening them."

It's mom, not capitalism-Researchers say they've found a gene that stimulates self-confidence and good cheer and another, much more common, gene that prompts chronic anxiety. However, they report, such genes affect only 4 percent of people. Most important of the many other genetic and environmental factors, they advise, is parenting practices.

We'll check our thrift shop - "If you buy that [$1,200] quilted Dior bag, you spend a lot of money and you feel great. It's like we're allowed to sin when we shop again." - Retailer consultant David Wolfe.

The caring system - Protests in Rockford, Illinois, forced the resignation of James Shelden, head of the city zoning board. The board was considering a proposal to build a fence that was needed, reportedly, to keep a single patient at a mental home from wandering into traffic on a nearby road. Said Shelden, the best thing that could happen is if the resident "got out and climbed over the fence.... It would save us a lot of money."

Life of the party - Known for his "off-beat" comments, Shelden explained that his remarks about the disabled person was intended to break up the monotony. "The meetings get quite dull," he said.

Like Uncle - UK's Ministry of Defense admitted 200 people had been used over a 40-year period as radiation guinea pigs. Evidence compiled by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament forced the admission after a denial two years earlier. The CND charged that civil service workers, under heavy pressure, agreed to inhale, eat, or be injected with radioactive substances. Officials said the amount was "negligible."

Includes foam-at-the-mouth lather - A CD ROM game offers a "flight simulation game where the top guns of the United States Navy defend its air station at Guantanamo Bay. Join a heroic squadron of veteran pilots, enter the danger zone over the Caribbean island, and try to destroy precious resources which fuel the enemy machine."

On the one hand - The London Stock Exchange reports that during the fiscal year that ended in June, 250 brokerages racked up profits totaling 719 million (about $1.2 billion U.S.).

...and on the other - In Britain, during 1995-96, 30 percent of babies were born into poverty.  
 
 
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